About

History

ECO members at the Hahn Woods Restoration Event in October 2016 (Photo credit: Trees Atlanta)

The Emory Climate Organization (ECO) is made up of a diverse, interdisciplinary group of students at Emory University. The organization was created by the founding ECO members, who met in a Coalition of the Liberal Arts (CoLA) course focused on understanding climate change. As part of the class, students had the opportunity to attend COP21, the international climate change conference, where the groundbreaking Paris Agreements were drafted (plus, they met Jane Goodall!). They also had the opportunity to bring their work back to the states afterwards, from organizing events for Climate Week, to initiating efforts to push sustainability at Emory forward, and ultimately creating ECO. The new organization solidified its identity and mission: to educate and activate Emory’s community on climate literacy so that climate action can be taken immediately.

MissionStatement

We the students of Emory Climate Organization are dedicated to increasing climate literacy at Emory and beyond, and to working towards climate action at our university and in our larger community.

We are centrally committed to the principles of environmental justice and to educating our communities on various aspects of climate change science, policy, advocacy and action. We aim to connect the broad interests of our student body under the central issue of climate change, to work as a catalyst for the larger social change we want to see.

We affirm the Earth’s right to a healthful existence, its inhabitants’ (both human and non-human) rights to exist free from harm and with dignity, and to enacting change at multiple levels to manifest these principles.

Meet Our Executive Board

Clara Perez is a senior in Sociology and Sustainability and is the Co-Founder/President of ECO. She went to the UN COP21 conference in Paris and helped organize several events of last year’s Climate Week, including a panel on environmental justice with 60+ person attendance, and form this year’s ECO club. She currently does research on climate justice, inequality and food access and has experience speaking on panels and organizing public events to help make such knowledge accessible and engaging.

Zola Berger-Schmitz is a sophomore studying Political Science and Music and is the Co-President of the Emory Climate Organization. She attended the UN Climate Talks in Bonn this past summer as an Emory delegate. In addition, she is passionate about legislative advocacy and has testified in front of bodies such as the Georgia Public Service Commission.

Jennifer Fundora is a junior double majoring in Environmental Sciences and International Studies and is Treasurer of ECO. Apart from managing the budget for ECO, she also handles the budget for Pawsitive Outreach. She has experience in programming and event planning through Residence Life at Emory.

Emily Li is a senior double majoring in Environmental Science and Creative Writing/English, interested in science writing and journalism. As ECO’s Digital Media Director, she oversees the organization’s digital media content, including website design and social media initiatives. Last summer, she worked for the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center as a science writing and communications intern, and she attended the COP 22 conference in Morocco last November as part of the Emory delegation.

Jubilee Park is a junior in the BS/MPH program with the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Rollins School of Public Health. In addition to being the Co-Outreach Chair of Emory Climate Organization, she was a former sustainability intern at Oxford College who previously and successfully applied with a team of other interns for an OSI grant during the year of 2015.

Wenhao Sun is the Co-Outreach Chair at ECO. He is a junior majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Sustainability. He was part of the Paris is an Explanation class and helped to organize last year’s Climate Week and this year’s Sustainable Food Fair. He is also very involved in Residence Life and has experience in programming, especially for first-year-students.

Jennie Sun is a senior studying Environmental Sciences and Economics. She is ECO’s VP of Programming and helped plan and organize last year’s Climate Week. She is in charge of maintaining relationships with other organizations for projects, collaborations, and sponsorships. She is passionate about advocating sustainable food on campus, and helped plan the Emory 2016 Sustainable Food Fair. She attended the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC in Morocco last November as part of the Emory delegation.